The Truth about Vitamin D Deficiency

We all know all that if the body lacks vitamins and minerals, it would mean a severe problem for anyone who encounters it.

However, we do not know what the lack of certain vitamins in our system would do to our bodies.

This article will focus on vitamin D deficiency and how it can affect your body if it does happen. In addition, you will also learn to deal with vitamin D deficiency problems that may arise along with the condition.

The Real Meaning

Vitamin D deficiency is also known as Hypovitaminosis. There are many various causes of this condition. However, ultimately it can lead to various disorders within the body particularly with certain organ functions. These will be discussed as the article progresses.

Direct Causes

As mentioned earlier, there are various causes for the condition. Here are some of the major causes that you should remember in order to understand vitamin D deficiency more effectively.

Inadequate supply of vitamin D to the body

Insufficient exposure to sunlight

Aside from this, it can also be caused by physical ailments that affect the ability of the body to absorb vitamin D.

It can also be caused by conditions that prevent vitamin conversion.

Related Diseases

Aside from those mentioned earlier, there are also certain related diseases that affect the body in such a way that it can prevent the body from absorbing and converting vitamin D into useful substances that can help the body grow strong and healthy. Here are some of those diseases as follows:

Liver conditions

Kidney disorders

Genetic anomalies

If you have these physical ailments, it is most likely that you would not be able to absorb vitamin-D.

Diagnosis

Doctors usually diagnose this condition through measuring the concentration of 25 hydroxyvitamin D. This is a compound that is usually found in the blood. These experts have developed a chart that can show you the exact measurements of hydroxyvitamin D in a person with vitamin D deficiency.

Some researchers say that having 25 hydroxyvitamin D levels of 75 to 80 nmol can be considered sufficient enough. However, most of the healthy individuals that have been tapped for the experiment did not quite reach this exact result in a study conducted in Hawaii.

Signs and Symptoms

You will know that you have vitamin D deficiency if you have the following diseases.

Rickets

Osteomalacia

Osteoporosis

Muscle aches and weakness

Muscle twitching

If you feel like you should be growing still but you’re not and there is significant deformity in your bones, chances are you have Rickets. This is one of the earlier signs of vitamin D deficiency that you have to watch out for. However, if you have the condition called craniotabes, it is most likely that you have developed the deficiency as well. If you’re able to change your diet, then you will have most likely prevented the development of the upper mentioned diseases in your body.

In order to prevent rickets, you should be able to change your diet. As much as possible, try to consume as much vitamin D rich foods as you can. In this way, it will provide you with enough supply of vitamin D in your body to prevent any other related diseases that might occur because of vitamin D deficiency.

Risk Factors

There also some risk factors that you would have to learn in order for you to create a preventive measure against vitamin D efficiency. These are as follows.

Age

Malnutrition

Exposure to the sun

Obesity

Darker skin color

Too much clothing

Additional Details

According to studies, the younger individuals need vitamin D more than adults do. This is why if you do not its post your child to vitamin D rich foods, he or she will more likely develop bone related diseases because of vitamin D deficiency. As mentioned earlier, your chills diet also plays an important role in preventing vitamin D deficiency. If your child is malnourished, he or she will have a weaker immune system to fight against various illnesses that may attack the body.

The same goes for obese individuals. According to recent studies, it has been found that obese individuals have a severe lack of vitamin D as well. This is because obese individuals do not have enough available physical resources that the internal organs can use because of the excessive that. In the same manner, people with darker skin color may be at risk for vitamin D deficiency because they have more melanin in their bodies which acts as a natural sunblock.

In addition, you should make it a point to expose your skin to the sun more often because it is the greatest source of vitamin D. Wearing too much clothes therefore may result to vitamin D deficiency as well.

Prevention and Treatment

In order to prevent vitamin D deficiency, you have to follow certain steps in order to change your lifestyle. First of all, you should change your diet. Eat as much vitamin D rich foods are as possible. In addition, you should always make it a point to expose yourself to the sun as much as possible.

In addition to this, you should also tried to maintain your weight as much as possible. If you can, try to wear less clothing so that you would be able to expose your skin to the said as much as possible. However, there are only a certain number of hours within a day in which your exposure to the sun will count. You should expose yourself to the sun between 6 to 9 AM. Ultraviolet rays during this time are very minimal whereas exposing yourself in later hours will prove to be detrimental to your skin and overall health because of ultraviolet rays from the sun.

If you want to learn more about vitamin D deficiency and everything else that is related to it, do not hesitate to ask your Physician about any information that you would want to learn for future reference. Learning about vitamin D deficiency will help you protect yourself against diseases that might affect your body in case you become vitamin D deficient.

This is guest post. Shan is professional blogger who loves to provide health tips related to women health issue like hymen and also daily fitness related health news

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